Yasuji Ishigaki from Tokai University Law School discusses how Japan sees its own situation in Asia and the Pacific region. How different for Japan is the current political situation in Asia from that of some years back? Secondly, if the situation has become very different, how should Japan act to fit in the present situation...

The broad tenets of the Washington Consensus, with its market-based policies, remain in place, but there is a recognition that well-functioning markets require complex institutions, rules and procedures, and that these take time and effort to develop. Dr Stephen Grenville asks how economic policymaking changed as a result of the Asian crisis of 1997-8, in...

Illicit drug production and use in Asia occurs on a massive scale - the amount of illicit drugs produced, especially heroin and amphetamine-type substances, is measurable in many tonnes per year and the numbers of people using and dependent on illicit drugs run into the millions across the region. Issues of such magnitude challenge the...

The fundamental challenge facing the global community on climate change is how to avoid increasing concentrations of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere at a rate swift enough to avoid climate induced changes that would be catastrophic to human life. Based on the outcomes of the Sydney meeting, the AP6 initiative does not significantly contribute to...

How are we to define 'scholarly information on East Asia? in today's academic and research environment? What is the 'Asian studies? that libraries with East Asian collections are here to serve? This paper focuses on the development of what is generally called the 'new' Asian studies, and review how it grew out of earlier roots...